Politics
by ionizable
Summary: Yes, let's gather the most important people in the whole world and put them in a little room for five days straight. That'll go well.
1. Chapter 1

**REMDAY GNOME-DECAN 41, ND2021**

"I just want to know how this could possibly make sense to anybody. Do they really think this is a good idea? It's a terrible idea."

He nods, idly watching the curls of her hair getting tugged this way and that by the wind. He knows better than to interrupt her by now. Not after she's already worked herself up into such a tizzy.

"Do they even realize how easy it'd be to kill the whole lot of us? We'll just be sitting there, crammed into a tiny room like sitting ducks for five whole days. If that's not a big old plea for bad guys to come and do as they please to everybody who's anybody, I don't know what is."

He nods again, now watching the water lap the edges of the cliff down below. He's timing her sentences with the tide, and she'd be furious if she knew. Unless she was doing it herself? The cadence of her sentences seemed to be matching the soft crash of the waves against the rock down below.

"Guy! Are you even listening? If you really want to be a successful and well-respected duke, you're going to have to pay attention to important people. Like me."

He remembers reading somewhere that "even" and "really" are excellent indicators of passive aggressive verbal abuse. Does it count if the speaker is a princess, who by definition (by this princess' definition, anyway) needs to be able to strike fear into the hearts of those around her? He grins and turns to her.

"Sorry, Princess Natalia. I guess I'm just kind of hungry. I skipped breakfast to practice my speech."

Natalia isn't charmed by his smile AT ALL, regardless of what her pulse would like to indicate, and she huffs. "You didn't have to come out here with me, you know. I just wanted some fresh air. Fresh, non-sweaty, old-man-free air."

He looks back out over the cliff again, the same cliff that she always returns to whenever she thinks about the past or the future or the broken promises that he knows she still hasn't forgotten. He doesn't know exactly why this place is so special to her, but he has a feeling it has something to do with the horizon. Her eyes glaze over whenever she looks out at it, as if remembering something incredibly painful.

"I know," he says, "I didn't have to come out here."

There's a peculiar emphasis on some of his words, and she looks back at him quizzically. She forces herself to turn away quickly though, before her gaze can get the chance to linger on the lines of his neck and the slope of his nose. If she could she'd try to yell at her gaze, since the stupid thing never seems to want to do anything sensible anymore. Now that she has processed that thought, though, she knows she's being absolutely absurd. And it's all Guy's fault. It's always his fault whenever her train of thought gets derailed and leads her to a point not frequented by anybody sane.

"Then again," he continues, snapping her out of her (insane) thoughts, "If I didn't accompany you, someone else undoubtedly would have, and you know I'm probably the most charming bodyguard you've ever had."

Alright, so maybe her thoughts get derailed again as soon as the word "bodyguard" passes through his lips. When did she completely and totally lose her mind? Her self-control has taken a massive beating recently, and it's all she can do to keep her thoughts from further exploring the interesting pathways created by the words "body" and "guard".

"We should probably be getting back now anyway," she says, after a brief pause, "back to being sitting ducks, waiting for an act of terrorism. Waiting for the leaders of Malkuth and Kimlasca and Daath to just get killed all at once. We'll just sit there and wait to-"

"Alright," he interrupts gently, "let's go see if the Emperor has managed to aggravate your father into declaring war yet."

He holds out his hand to help her up in a subconscious act of chivalry, before remembering himself and snatching it away just as she reaches for it. It's just so bizarre, he reflects ruefully, how he can be so acutely aware that she's female all the time, but then conveniently forget once they're on the verge of touching.

Slipping and landing on the grass with both her palms and knees so that she looks like she's begging him for mercy (really, this is not a position a princess should ever find herself in!), her face quickly contorts and she's on her feet in no time flat.

"Guy Cecil! You get back here!"

"Sorry, Princess!" he pants over his shoulder. "So sorry!"

She chases him anyway, refusing his apology, because she's intent on catching him and... no, not embracing him, and _definitely _not running her hands up and down his back-

Well, when she catches him, she's going to do something else that's very physical and very alarming (for him) and totally, totally platonic (for her). Yes. That's what she'll do.

* * *

><p>They're late. Natalia doesn't mind so much, but she's maybe the fourth-most important person in the whole room so it isn't so bad for her.<p>

Guy, on the other hand, nervously scratches the back of his neck as they introduce themselves to the servant at the door. Natalia had told him that they'd tried to minimize the number of servants present in the castle for the next few days, since it was never a good idea to have this many important people around a large number of servants they had no right to boss around. He hadn't really understood her logic then (plus, he sort of likes bossing around servants now that he's all important and doesn't have to be the one running around anymore) but now he wishes they'd gotten rid of the man pulling double duty as the footman and herald.

As the doors open, the man clears his throat and announces, "Her Royal Highness, Princess of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, Princess Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear."

The entire room, save three people, reluctantly stands up. They watch her progress through the room, heads nodding downwards as she passes and weaves her way towards the empty chair next to the king.

The herald continues, "And His Grace, The Duke of Gardios, Gailardia Galan Gardios."

As soon as Natalia's behind touches the seat of her chair, everyone else sits down. There are only one or two people left standing, but everyone's gaze still follows Guy as he crabwalks his way to an empty chair.

Natalia resists the urge to giggle. Guy's face is so red. Maybe she'll try to walk in late again next time she's with him, if only to see him this flustered again. With so many impressively important people in the room, nobody cares about deferring to the newly appointed Duke, except for maybe one or two stray Earls in the room.

He rubs his ears, trying to get the blood circulating again. It's been three hours since he'd last stretched his legs, and probably three hours since any blood had flowed to his head. Maybe two and a half, since his ears and cheeks had been burning like mad after he nearly tripped over someone on his way in. Probably the Grand Maestro. He hadn't wanted to turn around and see whose robes he'd trodden on.

Stifling a yawn, Guy is starting to see why Natalia had been so resistant to the idea of this conference. How did anyone ever get anything done when they were dealing with important people who demanded ceremony? The sentences coming out of people's mouths were so flowery he was almost surprised the room smelled as bad as it did.

Then the marquess next to him leans ever so subtly toward him again. Guy sighs, then holds his breath. He's given up counting the number of times he'd noticed people shifting their weight onto one buttock so they could pass gas silently.

His gaze flicks enviously over to Natalia, sitting near the front of the room. Nobody's hanging over her as they let out stinkbombs. Nobody's scratching his bald head vigorously and covering her in dandruff. She gets to sit next to her father and Emperor Peony, who always smells nice (although not like peonies).

Her eyes meet his, and the deadened look in her eyes falls away as she grins mischieviously at him. He blinks. Her hand comes up and brushes her brow twice, casually.

Bewildered, his eyebrows furrow. With an imperceptible tilt of her head and a flick of her eyes, she draws his gaze to a round, white-haired gentleman with heavy tufts for eyebrows and equally heavy tufts of nostril hair poking out of his nose. Guy squints, noticing that the man's eyebrows are completely hiding his eyes. After a few seconds, he sees the telltale tremble of the lips as a gentle snore escapes the man's mouth.

Incredulous, he looks back at Natalia. She positively quivers with mirth, before looking around quickly and then pulling her face into a facsimile of the sleeping man's. He watches her try to droop her eyebrows down low to hide her closed eyes, and can't prevent a snort from escaping.

Mistake. The room had been deathly silent, aside from the mild droning of the speaker, who pauses now. Everyone starts to look around for the source of the interruption.

Natalia's face is completely back to normal in the blink of an eye, but Guy can feel his face beginning to flood with colour again. He wills himself not to blush, but as usual, mind over matter is a foreign concept to his body. He glares at Natalia, since it's all her fault.

Second mistake. She's positively trembling now, holding in her laughter and trying to maintain a poker face. For a deranged split second his - mind... takes off with the sight of her vibrating in place, before he blushes doubly hard and feels beads of sweat popping across his brow.

Most everyone knows that he was the one who interrupted the speaker, who is staring at him quizzically, but refusing to verbally acknowledge him. Guy sweats, wondering what the correct etiquette is. Should he say he swallowed his spit wrong and it came back up? Or maybe he could just pray that the ground will open up and swallow him whole.

He's saved (well, saved isn't the right word, but he doesn't know that yet) by Emperor Peony, who clears his throat. All eyes turn towards him instead of Guy, and Guy starts breathing again.

"Yes, Duke Gardios?"

Guy's breathing stutters to a stop.

All eyes are back on him, including Natalia's. Her eyes are enormously wide now. Like huge pools of green. His eyes dart back and forth from hers, taking in Emperor Peony's satisfied little smirk and the expectant expressions on everyone else's faces.

"Er... I object?"

There's a collective gasp.

Guy hadn't been paying attention at all. What had he just objected to?

The speaker is taken aback too, but starting to get mad. The corners of his mouth are wrinkling downwards, even as he replies, "And how, pray tell, might _you _suggest we eradicate poverty? Surely you can't imagine we could entrust the kingdom's - no, the world's - funds to anyone with less education or status as a viscount."

Guy thinks fast.

"Sure," he says. "That'll feed a family of hungry kids. Their appetites will be completely whetted by the thought of a viscount somewhere, plumping up his coffers."

The room, previously as dead and silent as a morgue, is now positively crackling with tension. Nobody had expected a fight on the very first day.

Guy hadn't expected to be in a fight at all.

The speaker's face is nearing purple. Guy wonders if his own is doing the same. "I've yet to hear your solution, Duke Gardios."

Guy shrugged. "I don't have a solution."

The speaker - whose name Guy has been trying to remember but just can't - smirks. "I see."

The room's tension has virtually disappeared. The round tufty-eyebrowed gentleman settles back in to return to his nap.

"But it's clear to me that anything claiming to be a solution is not a solution at all."

Silence. Then, "You're not making very much sense, Duke Gardios." The smarminess in the speaker's voice is palpable.

"What I'm saying is... you can't possibly hope to _eradicate poverty _all at once. There is no end-all solution. You can't just give one man free rein over large sums of money and hope he'll be able to solve the world's problems just like that."

The stirrings of interest are back in full force now, and another man joins in the discussion.

"Are you saying we ought to just give up, then?"

And another voice. "He's saying it's hopeless."

Guy frowns. "I said no such thing." But his voice can't be heard over the din.

Natalia leans forward in her chair and raps on the table. Twice. Sharply. As effective as a gavel. Perhaps more so, because the hard knock of a princess' flesh and bone against wood cuts through the noise like a foghorn. She waits until the room is completely silent again. She doesn't have to wait long.

"I believe what Duke Gardios was attempting to convey," she says calmly, "is that a more sustainable strategy for the future might be one where the future of those suffering in poverty might be determined by those who are actually in that position."

The rumble starts up again. She hadn't expressed herself clearly enough, but roughly half the room got her message anyway. The other half just wants to start a fight.

* * *

><p>The general consensus is to take a break and reconvene tomorrow. Nobody expected such heavy topics to be brought up on the first day; they figured they'd wait until the last day, or the penultimate, at the earliest.<p>

Natalia waits for the room to clear, assuring her father that she will join him during dinner, after the herald has been sent away. He's displeased, but nods and allows himself to be swept out by Duke Fabre.

Luke catches her eye and smiles. For a split second, she's caught up in memories of another red-haired boy smiling tentatively at her. The moment passes, and she nods back to him, briskly, quickly averting her gaze and pretending to be absorbed in watching the nobles file out of the doors.

After an appropriate amount of time has passed, she looks back at where Luke had been standing, relieved to see him gone. Guy is now standing in his place. He's got a rueful smile on his face as he sheepishly scratches the back of his neck.

"Well," she says. "You certainly know how to make a statement or two."

A flash of playful annoyance crosses his face. "Hrng," he grunts, looking at her balefully. He reaches towards her and places his hand on a portion of air several inches away from the small of her back, as if to create the semblance of escorting her out of the room.

She shrugs and allows herself to be guided out. "Before you say it was all my fault - "

"It was all your fault."

" - can I just remind you that I wasn't the one who insisted on sarcastic jabs and glib remarks?"

Guy opens his mouth to reply, then thinks better of it and pauses to regroup his thoughts. "I suppose I may need some practice in dealing with... hoity-toity old farts."

She grins at his choice of words. "Regardless, it was quite a debut. You can bet everyone is going to be even more interested as to why you were granted dukedom. Without a duchy, to boot."

"I have no doubt the Emperor will be more than happy to spread bizarre rumours regarding my appointment."

"What makes you say that?"

"For one thing, it's the Emperor."

Natalia nods. Everyone loves a good yarn, Emperor Peony more so than most.

"For another," Guy continues, "he's already begun spreading bizarre rumours."

She feigns ignorance. "Like what?"

There's a slight pause as his face reddens. "Never mind. Will you be heading to dinner?"

Natalia stops walking, forcing Guy to turn to her. He avoids her eyes, nervously shuffling his feet. She grins openly at him, goading him. "Maybe. What sorts of rumours, Guy?"

He hems and haws, scratching the back of his neck, trying to buy time. "Well... maybe he's been spreading some gossip. About, well, me."

"That much is a given," she says drily.

"And, er, you," he adds.

She's amused. She knows, of course, all the rumours Emperor Peony has been whispering into various nobles' ears, swearing them to secrecy and fully expecting them to swear others to secrecy as they pass on the delightfully scandalous information. Guy doesn't know she knows, and obviously he doesn't think it's suitable for this princess' ears. That, or he's embarrassed. Or maybe both. It doesn't matter to her anyway. She's always enjoyed watching him squirm.

So she nods at him patiently, but crosses her arms and gives him a look. She intends for her look to say _stop wasting time_, but from the way he gulps and loosens his collar, she might as well have said _promise me your firstborn son_.

which is something she should file away for future use, perhaps. There's no underestimating the usefulness of potential shock value.

"There are... rumours about us. You know, when we were travelling together. All of us, I mean, when all of us were travelling together, but in particular the rumours are mostly just about us. As in, you, and me. Us."

He's positively dancing on the spot with nervous energy, trying so hard to buy time to rephrase the vulgar notions he's about to voice. She takes pity on him and starts walking again, redirecting their path and giving him an outlet for his agitation. The clicking of their heels seems to soothe him, as if giving him a rhythm to follow.

"Um, the rumours are, you know. Rumours. They're definitely not true, but others seem to think so, and... well, they're just not true. But we know that. Well, I know that, since you don't know what the rumours are. Yet."

She nods, reassuringly. Every now and then she sneaks a glance at him, delighted to see how increasingly red his face is getting.

"And basically they just think that we... er, that I've, well, taken responsibility for you. And, um, you've accepted wholeheartedly, and so in order to make it a feasible, you know, option, you had to... strong-arm Emperor Peony into appointing me a Duke. Because that makes us, well," he gestures with his hand. "Socially compatible?"

Natalia can't hold back her giggles anymore. It's not ladylike in the slightest, and a snort or two escapes, but she can't help it. She would lean against him - she almost tries to - but instead she supports herself against the wall and just keeps laughing.

He's staring at her, bewildered, and utterly embarrassed. Why does she find the idea so laughable?

When she's able to catch her breath, she immediately guesses his thoughts and waves her hand feebly. "No, no, I'm not laughing at the idea of us being socially compatible. Or, you know, compatible in any other way." She snickers a little at that. "I just didn't think it would be possible to be able to put it so tactfully! The version I heard involved a lot more bawdy details. Made-up details, of course, but cruder nonetheless."

His mouth opens, but only a strangled gasping noise comes out.

She struggles back to her feet and begins walking again, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Behind her, he finally finds his voice. "How did you - When? From who?"

She slows her pace to let him catch up to her. "Hmm, it must have been before you even became a Duke. My handmaidens and I are quite close, you know. And they have a lot of friends down by the docks, where all the good gossip is. People were speculating about your fate ever since they stopped seeing you around in Baticul."

He doesn't say a word, still shocked.

"There were all these fake testimonies from friends of friends of cousins of friends of theirs, about how we were always gazing soulfully into one another's eyes, or how you'd sworn to protect me with your sword and your life. And then there were the people who claimed to be guests at the inns we stayed at, talking about... how thin the walls were."

She looks over her shoulder at him. He avoids her gaze, face unreadable.

"Are you mad at me?"

He's still silent.

Natalia turns and stands directly in front of him, as if demanding a response.

His head is turned stubbornly to the side, but he steals a glance out of the corners of his eyes. "No."

"You _are_mad."

He refuses to reply, but his bottom lip juts out ever so slightly. She'd been unsure, before, but now she knows he's mostly just being petulant over having been so embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," she says.

His head slowly turns to face her.

She does her best to look repentant. It'd be best not to mention how much fun she was having, toying with him.

Guy exhales. She can feel his breath wash over her, and she steps back automatically.

"It's alright," he says reluctantly. "Thank you for apologizing."

She smiles up at him. For a second she thinks his breathing may have hitched, but then she remembers having moved back away from him.

For the first time, he looks around, confused. "Where are we?"

She turns around again and giggles. "The corridor to the kitchens."

"What? What about dinner?"

"Where do you think our food comes from?"

She can hear the exasperation and worry in his voice before he talks. "I mean, aren't we going to join everyone else?"

"What, you think they're gossiping about us right now?"

"...I didn't say that."

"No, but you're thinking it," she laughs. "I told my father to retire the herald, but I have a feeling he was persuaded not to by everyone else. They, unlike us, enjoy feeling pompous and important."

"Ah," Guy says. "So we're eating dinner in the kitchens like servants."

Natalia pauses. "Is that alright?"

He looks at her for a second, dressed in her finest, freshly washed and well rested. He can't picture her sitting on a humble wooden stool, eating scraps or leftovers while surrounded by servants and spices and fires, but he has a feeling she's done this many times before.

"I used to eat in the kitchens all the time," he says, half to himself.

"Great," she beams. "Come on, I thought you were hungry? Stop dragging your heels." She pushes open the doors and disappears inside.

He's scratching the back of his neck again. It's odd, he thinks. I don't get this worked up over anyone else.


	2. Chapter 2

**LUNADAY GNOME-DECAN 42, ND2021**

"This is absurd!"

A split second of silence follows the outburst. Then:

"Hear!"

"Hear!"

"Absolutely!"

Buoyed by the agreement, the tufty-eyebrowed gentleman continues with his interruption. There's no trace of the lethargy he'd appeared to have been plagued with yesterday. No, his mustache is bristling with indignation and his jowls are quivering in protest as he rises from his chair. It would be quite an impressive picture, were he not about the same height standing as he was sitting.

"In all my twenty-five years as an esteemed consultant and trusted advisor to three different Grand Maestros, I have never heard a proposal as sacrilegious and outright absurd as yours. It is logically unsound, Duke Gardios, completely unsound!"

One doesn't need to know Duke Gardios very well – one doesn't need to know Duke Gardios at all, really – to know that he's furious. Natalia's furious too (and okay, maybe she's mostly offended on his behalf, because she knows how long and how hard he's worked on this proposal) but before she can even take a breath, a clear, cool voice has already cut above the din of greasy nobles patting each other on the back in agreement.

"I can see why you would consider the reinstatement of Hod as a secular and politically neutral territory to be absurd. After all, the merchants on your retainer thrive on selling weaponry and armour. Your value would be rather worthless should peace finally come about between our nations."

Almost to the letter, those were the exact points Natalia had been about to hit. She, like everyone else in the room, turns to see who the speaker is. With some surprise, she recognizes the young woman who had arrived at the castle in the same carriage as Lord Tufty Eyebrows the day before last. Natalia had assumed her to be his mistress or something equally delicate of nature, but judging from the way his face is less apoplectic than expected, her social status is probably comparable to his.

The room is silent for a beat, before Natalia clears her throat. "You may continue, Duke Gardios."

Struggling to regain his composure, Guy shoots her a grateful glance and looks to the Emperor for his permission as well. Peony's eyes are narrow and quick, studying everyone in the room. He nods to Guy, still appraising the reaction from the rest of the nobles.

Guy forces his gaze to return to his paper. Shuffling them awkwardly, he searches for his place. He hadn't intended to deviate from his speech, but he had gotten carried away by how badly he wanted this proposal to go through. Resolving not to pepper his speech with any more adlibs, he takes a brief swig from his glass of water and clears his throat. He's embarrassed – this isn't going as smoothly as he'd have liked, not to mention he's started to develop a reputation for instigating uncivilized chaos during this conference.

As he continues his speech, eyes fixed firmly on the papers in front of him, Natalia focuses on the woman who'd spoken out (he's rehearsed this speech nearly three times in front of her anyway, it's not like she really needs to pay attention) and sizes her up, from the gaudy jewelry to the obnoxious gown. She's paying rapt attention to Guy, Natalia notes, and is studiously avoiding Lord Tufty's rather intent gaze.

There's something odd about her, Natalia thinks, but she doesn't want to be ungracious and certainly not unkind (most unbefitting for a princess! her manners tutor would say), so she dampens her judgmental thoughts and tries to pay attention to Guy. Not that it's difficult to pay attention to him; as unrefined as he may be when it comes to the art of speaking, there's a captivating quality about him that Natalia appreciates. Too few of the other nobles possess that same easy charisma, which makes her glance out the window again, depressed to see that the sun hasn't budged a single inch from its position in the sky.

It'll be a long few days, trapped in this room.

* * *

><p>"Well! If it isn't our fledgling political negotiator himself."<p>

Guy drops the shrimp he'd been about to eat.

"Emperor!"

"Oh, get up, get up. I don't know why you insist on bowing like a fool every time you see me."

Guy chooses not to mention the fact that the Emperor had ordered him to do so – he's finding it pretty fun now anyway, and he spent too much time practicing the elaborate footwork and fancy hand gestures to let it go to waste – choosing instead to smile and inquire, "To what do I owe the honour?"

"I just decided to stop by and note the fact that my favourite young members of the peerage seem to be making quite a number of waves at this year's conference."

Guy notices the two women standing alongside the Emperor for the first time.

Ah, he thinks, I should probably be a little more concerned that Emperor Peony is bringing two alarmingly intelligent women my way. Especially since one of them looks like she's about to collapse from the sheer effort required to stifle the mirth my bow brought about, and the other one looks like she's about to encroach on my personal space.

"Duke Gardios," the latter says with a smile. Guy doesn't know her, but he's already nervous from the way her body language seems to be angling her closer towards him.

On the Emperor's other side, the former simply purses her lips in an attempt to swallow her laughter. Guy knows that look well. There's a hint of deviousness, a trace of anticipation. He's just glad Natalia's eyes aren't narrowing the way they used to when they were younger and he was "her" servant, or else he'd have already been running away by now.

"May I introduce Lady Luske? And of course you already know Her Highness Princess Natalia." The Emperor touches their shoulders briefly, then abruptly turns and runs off. Probably to ruin Jade's appetite, Natalia guesses.

Guy watches him go with a look of dismay that has less to do with his desire to get the Emperor's honest opinion on his proposal and everything to do with the two females who have just now stepped a little too close to him.

Faced with no other choice, he smiles back at the two ladies politely, rigidly planting his feet into the ground instead of backing away instinctively. "You Highness," he nods to Natalia. And to the young woman who had spoken up for him earlier, "It's a pleasure to finally be introduced, Lady Luske."

"The pleasure's all mine, Duke Gardios."

Natalia decides she doesn't like the way the timbre of Lady Luske's voice has lowered ever so subtly. She also doesn't like the way Luske holds out her hand, presumably so Guy can kiss it.

As her hand gets closer and closer to his bubble of personal space, Guy can feel his panic level rising. Trying not to let his eyes dart wildly back and forth, he starts coughing and turns his back to them, hoping both women will disappear before he stops pretending to hack up a lung.

"Oh! Are you alright?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a pale, delicately gloved hand on his shoulder. Freezing up, his mind goes blank and he wills his body not to try to throw itself out the window.

"Lady Luske! Oh, isn't this shrimp just the most enormous thing you've ever seen? Dear me! Its size is almost vulgar!"

The heavy, heavy pressure of her impossibly light touch is lifted, and Guy's breath returns in a gasp that sends him into an actual coughing fit. By the time he's done gasping for air, he has bemusedly noted Natalia and Lady Luske making strained small talk a blessed four whole feet away from him. Luske looks as though she would rather be discussing anything other than the shrimp Natalia is waving under her nose.

Then the two of them dart glances towards him at the same time. Suspicious, he makes a show of fumbling for his handkerchief, eyeing them warily. Now they're laughing, and he tells himself this is no time to notice the way Natalia's eyes are flashing green and blue and yellow as the light catches them at different angles.

"He's really just a delicate, delicate man. Such a weak constitution. Weak stamina, too. Just a dreadfully weak man." He recognizes that stuffy tone of hers, the one she affects when she's secretly making fun of everyone she's talking to.

"Oh my! Your Highness, your sense of humour is... reckless."

Guy has a sinking feeling they're talking about him, and he puffs out his chest as best as he can before returning to stand beside Natalia. She sees this, of course, and this time he can't help noticing the mirth sparkling in her eyes and the unabashed laughter dancing across her face.

The conversation has died, further convincing him that they'd been talking about him, but _now_both women are appraising him in a way that worries him even more (although truth be told, he can't honestly say that he dislikes the way Natalia's looking him over).

"Princess," he says, somewhat nervously, "I do apologize. Swallowed a bit of dust."

"No harm done, Duke Gardios," she replies cheerfully. "We were discussing... the maintenance of our castle. You were quite correct, Lady Luske. Our castle is positively _filthy_with dust and dirt and other undesirables. I assure you, we will rectify the situation immediately."

With that, Lady Luske is taken aback, and opens her mouth to reassure the princess that she would _never_say anything as rude as that! but Natalia has already started giggling, and Guy just knows that Natalia is a bald-faced liar with no shame whatsoever. He shoots her a quick little glare, only to be met with a guileless face staring back at him, innocent and polite. Until the tip of her tongue pokes out of the corner of her mouth and then, as quick as lightning, disappears. It happens so fast that he's almost convinced that he imagined it.

He clears his throat carefully. "So, Lady Luske. I understand you are acquainted with Lord Duftey."

Luske gives a little laugh and begins fingering the necklace at her throat, drawing his attention to the curious little scar on her collarbone. "One might say that, yes. He's my uncle."

Guy blinks, fascinated. "I never imagined... by blood? But... there's no resemblance."

Luske gives a tinklingly full laugh this time. "Oh no! Duke Gardios, your sense of humour is almost as carefree as Princess Natalia's!"

Ohhhh nohhhh, Natalia mimicks in her mind. Duke Gaaaaardiooos, stoooop itttt. You're so baaaaad. She's being bitter and dreadful and she knows it, but she's glad the other two don't seem to know it. Yet. She joins in on the laughter, albeit forcedly. She supposes she'd be more interested in this topic of conversation if she knew who Lord Duftey was.

Not knowing names is something that she's used to. The sheer number of people paraded before the princess of Kimlasca is an impossible number of faces to memorize, and she's long since accepted the fact that the balance of knowledge is usually tipped in favour of random strangers rather than her.

Guy, however, is taking to his dukedom rather well. Rather eagerly, as a matter of fact. He's diving headfirst into mastering the mindless chit-chat, associating names with faces, learning all about the sordid histories and scandals tied to each different person. She's never seen him like this before, gossiping busily about people he doesn't know with people he doesn't know, but it's kind of... cute. He's trying so hard.

* * *

><p>Dinner is a quiet affair, tonight, nothing like the rushed meal they had in the midst of the bustling kitchen last night. Guy had protested vehemently at first, not liking the prospect of yet more gossip about the scandalous notion of them escaping, yet again, from the formal decorum of the banquet hall. Tonight, they've found solace in the princess' bedchambers. (Well, the princess has found solace. Guy has found a mildly nauseating sense of nervousness he never knew he possessed.)<p>

At any rate, his unease isn't being helped by the... "chaperone"... he'd insisted upon. She'd called him a fuddy-duddy for suggesting they bring one along, and he would've been more amused about that had he not been absolutely serious. To the chagrin of both Natalia and Guy, however, someone had been eavesdropping on their quiet conversation in the corner of the room.

Which is why Anise is pawing through my things right now, Natalia thinks sourly.

It's worth it, though, she supposes, because Guy's face is even redder than it would have been had Anise not tagged along and ended up in her room with them, commenting loudly on her bedsheets and scents and undergarments.

The last thing he wants is to be there, and he knows it's written all over his face. Aside from Anise's baiting remarks, the two of them are quiet and the atmosphere is stilted. They pick at their food listlessly, refusing to give Anise any more enjoyment than she's already extracted.

A crow of – triumph? – is suddenly heard. They look up apprehensively.

"Has _somebody_ been helping _somebody else_with their appeal for Hod's reinstatement?" Anise waves the stack of crumpled papers.

Guy and Natalia glance at each other quickly. To her extreme annoyance, she feels her face beginning to flush. "I- I was just lending him an ear."

"And a space to... rehearse?" Anise leers.

Annoyed, Natalia snaps, "Oh, sit down and stop acting like a child, Anise."

Unruffled, Anise makes a big production out of her intent to settle herself comfortably in between the two. Looking from one to the other expectantly, it's as if she thinks they'll try to hold hands behind her back, or start a snogging session right above her head with her squashed in the middle.

In unison, Guy and Natalia scoot themselves a little bit away from her and even more away from each other. Anise smirks.

They sit in silence for a little bit, with Guy and Natalia still moving their food around on their plates aimlessly, as she peruses the stack of papers. Finally, she breaks the silence.

"So what did your dad say about this?" she asks Natalia.

Natalia shrugged. "I haven't had a chance to discuss it with him yet."

"You would if we had gone down to dinner like everyone else," Guy grumbles under his breath.

The two girls exchange a look with each other.

"But you wouldn't want Natalia to influence her father's opinion on your behalf, would you?" Anise asks. "That's hardly a noble thing to do, using your _relationship_with his daughter like that."

Natalia chooses to ignore that, and instead agrees, "That's not the way you wanted to do this, is it?"

Sullenly, Guy looks from the one smug face to the other serious face. "I suppose," he says begrudgingly.

He chews on his food for a bit, thinking, then concedes, "Yeah, you're right. I want Hod to be restored because people can actually see the benefits for themselves."

He picks at his food a little more.

"Not that they do, I guess, since my speech was a bit of a fiasco."

Natalia's been watching him carefully. He looks up and right at her, as if he knew she'd been staring at him.

"There's always next year," he smiles, a little wanly.

"Hold on. They're going to discuss everything later on, people are going to speak their minds, decisions will actually be made sometime near the end of this conference. It's only the second day, Guy, you can't just give up like that."

He's not cheered up, exactly, but he is somewhat amused by the stern tone of her voice. He smiles at her for a bit, appreciating her effort to cheer him up. She still looks stern, but there's no hardness in her expression anymore – in fact, her frown is positively melting away.

"Yeah!"

Natalia flinches, and Guy knows that he wasn't the only one who momentarily forgot about their little chaperone.

"Yeah," Anise says again, bright and chipper as always, "you still have a few days left before you find out it's been rejected!"

"Anise!"

"What?" she says. "Let's be honest, princess, it wasn't great."

Feeling his eyes boring into her, Natalia looks determinedly at a point between Guy's right ear and his shoulder. "Well, it was very good for his first time," she says loyally.

"I'll bet it was!" Anise cackles.

Natalia pauses for a second, missing the joke. As it clicks into place, her face contorts.

"Alright," she says, getting up. "That's enough fun for you. Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Turning a deaf ear to the loud squawks and indignant objections, Natalia firmly tugs on Anise's arm and unceremoniously dumps her on the hallway floor. She makes to close the door.

"Hang on, I didn't even tell you what Emperor Peony thought of it yet!"

In a flash, Guy's standing right behind Natalia, preventing her from closing the door on Anise. "What?" he asks eagerly, "He's been talking about my proposal? What'd he say?"

Shaking her head, Natalia lets Anise back into her room. Pointedly, she remains standing next to the door, watching the other two plop back down on the floor in the center of the room with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"Well, he didn't think it was very good either."

At the fed-up looks from both Natalia and Guy, Anise hurriedly continues. Maybe she noticed Guy's clenching jaw, or maybe it's the rather large vein throbbing at Natalia's temple. (To be honest, the muscles popping out of the side of Guy's face are a lot more frightening than Natalia's pulsing vein. The vein's been around for a few years now, and despite its alarming size, it hasn't yet burst. The muscles? Are new.)

"He does think that you've brought up a few good points, and maybe you just need a little more work on your presentation skills. Or something like that."

"See, I've been saying that all along," Natalia says, encouragingly. She'd given up tapping her feet, and joins the two on the plush rug.

Guy nods glumly. "Plenty of time for practice in a year."

Anise shrugs. "It's not impossible. This year, I mean. But he said the only way you'd get people to support you when it comes time to making an actual decision is if you rub shoulders before then. Connections, you know. A lot of them."

"Hang on," Guy says suddenly. "How do _you_know? I thought you were supposed to be with the Daath delegation the whole time."

Natalia laughs. "Was it Jade?"

"You've seen him running around, insulting all the bigwigs who're too dumb to know they've even been insulted. He's been hearing stuff," Anise smirks.

"I was in the middle of talking to one of our generals when Jade came over and completely baffled the guy with all those quick and slick words of his. It's a good thing General Roly-Poly's too thick to understand what was being said about the way our navy's managing its funds, or there would've been a war started right there," Natalia says.

The girls are laughing as they delve into the various antics and enormous leeway granted to Jade, but Guy's too busy mulling over the Emperor's words. It wasn't as though the thought hadn't already occurred to him – of course it had – but there was something repulsive about the concept of political machinations that he hadn't yet gotten used to. Meeting new people was fine, and in truth he rather enjoyed it, but approaching them with an agenda? If his presentation skills were being called into question, he'd hate to hear the jabs about his obvious finagling.

"Hey! You in there?"

He looks up to see Anise's hand being waved two inches under his nose. Yelping, he scoots back violently. He loses his balance and falls onto his back, only to get caught again when he tries to right himself as the hook on his belt gets entangled in the long hairs of the rug. Red-faced and ashamed, not to mention frustrated and embarrassed, he pulls himself out of the rug with more force than necessary, almost toppling again as he stands.

"Whoops," Anise says.

With a pinched face, Natalia stands as well. Looking up at their displeased faces, Anise sighs and pouts, looking far younger than her teenaged years.

"Alright," she grumbles, "good night."

She sees herself out, but pauses as she pulls the door shut. Turning back, she hides half of her face as she sizes up the mood in the room. Deciding that there was enough room for one last joke before she left, she announces, "I'm leaving, kids. Remember, don't do anything that I wouldn't d–"

The sheer force of the thrown pillow closes the door in her face. Rubbing her nose in annoyance, she presses her ear to the door in time to hear the lock slide into place, and then the muffled sound of conversation starting up.

She grins, then starts walking away with a bounce in her step. Natalia threw a pillow, instead of that big ol' heavy vase right next to it, so she wasn't too mad. It'd all blow over tomorrow. In fact, she'd go... "apologize" to Guy first thing in the morning.

Her grin stretches wider.

If he wasn't even in his room first thing tomorrow morning, he was probably still in Natalia's room and, well, then it was time to collect on some, ah, wagering bonuses. And if he _was_in his room without a single scratch anywhere on his body, she could proudly claim to be an effective chaperone. And then Jade would definitely owe her some money.

She loves win-win situations.


End file.
